Previously, a yield strength of 5,000 pounds per square inch (psi) was enough for concrete to be rated as “high strength,” with the best going up to 10,000 psi. The new UHPC can withstand 40,000 psi or more.
The greater strength is achieved by turning concrete into a composite material with the addition of steel or other fibers. These fibers hold the concrete together and prevent cracks from spreading throughout it, negating the brittleness. “Instead of getting a few large cracks in a concrete panel, you get lots of smaller cracks,” says Barnett. “The fibers give it more fracture energy.”
Giving the yield strength in psi is the most pointless thing ever. Every single engineer would use metric Pa so its clearly a conversion for the average american idiot but the average American idiot has no idea what yield strength is.
Darrell_Winfield@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
Holy nothing burger, Batman!
First off, this article is from 2022, re-released to farm clicks from the current hype cycle.
Secondly, this is conjecture on top of conjecture. They discuss that we can’t know the current damage from satellite, and Iran down plays the damage. Then they go on to say “concrete is strong and can be stronger”.
Articles like this annoy me. It’s all based on lots of unsubstantiated claims, and then one guy’s theoretical research. We don’t know the strength of the bombs. We don’t know the strength of Iran’s bunkers. We don’t know how much damage was done. None of this has changed. I doubt we’ll ever really know. But throw whatever political spin on it you want, and now you’ve got a click worthy news article.
Buelldozer@lemmy.today 8 hours ago
There’s also the fact that the majority of Iran’s nuclear facilities were built before UHPC was available!
Darrell_Winfield@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
I was suspicious of that as well, but I’m not knowledgeable enough on that subject to speak on it, so didn’t include it. But I doubt any country can build that extensive of a nuclear factory in so few years.
tyler@programming.dev 6 hours ago
I thought we do know the depth of the bunkers though. And that American bombs can’t go that deep, even multiple of them
Darrell_Winfield@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
I can’t speak to that aspect. But I firmly believe that if our military planned and carried out this strike, then we had very good evidence that their bunkers were at a depth these ordinance could reach.